It is generally known to provide gaming machines, in particular slot machines with display or indicating devices informing a player about the course and results of previous games. This information merely relates to the type number of events happened.
German Laid Open Patent Publication No. 37 38 120 discloses such a gaming machine provided with a device for indicating symbol combinations representing winnings or non-winnings. The machine is provided with two rows of LEDs parallel to each other with illuminated LEDs in one row indicating won games and illuminated LEDs in the other row indicating lost games for a number of previous games.
German Laid Open Patent Publication No. 38 39 977 discloses a gaming machine improved in respect of the gaming machine discussed before, provided with various display devices in the form of seven segment indicators displaying the stake of the machine, the stake of the player, the maximum amount involved comprising the sum of the two stakes per game, the number of special games, the winnings and the value of inserted coins.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,951 discloses a system for controlling the operation of gaming machines electronically connected with each other including communication between the machines and a central control unit using a central processing unit.
None of these known devices or machines is provided with a time measuring and/or displaying device.
German Laid Open Patent Publication No. 26 36 253 discloses a gaming machine provided with a clock controlling a microprocessor. However, this clock is only used as a switching element for switching on and off the operation of the machine, of an alarm device and of game incentive devices dependent on day-time. Nothing is said about time-related information to be determined and displayed.
German Laid Open Patent Publication No. 34 41 518 relates to a system using a larger number of gaming machines connected to a host computer provided with a day-time indicating device. However, this device only serves for modifying price and game time information read out from a ROM memory into the accumulator of the central processing unit of the gaming machine in order to have different tariffs depending on the time of the day.